Action during the hurriedly convened one-day Session of the Goa legislative Assembly on Tuesday occurred outside the House rather than inside its premises.
While the Opposition alleged that the treasury Benches and the Speaker Anant Shet used the national anthem to silence the Opposition voice, Chief Minister laxmikant Parsekar and the Speaker himself said that the Session, which only lasted for a few minutes was only called to ensure that the Section 147 (1) of the Indian Constitution, which requires that the gap between two Assembly Sessions is not more than six months, was not contravened.
The Goa Governor Dr Mridula Sinha during her speech which lasted for just about two minutes said she was unable to make any policy statement, because of the ongoing electoral process and the imposition of the Mode Code of Conduct by the ECI.
“look at the timing when the national anthem was played. It was played just as the Opposition leader was standing to speak today (Tuesday) in the House... They claim they are nationalists. look at what they are doing. Using the national anthem to block voice of the Opposition. We could not raise any issue we wanted, because the speaker allowed it to play just as our Opposition leader was standing up to raise issues. We respect the anthem, so we kept quiet,” Congress spokesperson and Curtorim MlA Aleixo Reginaldo said.
The CM and the Speaker have scoffed at the allegations, claiming that the session was called only to fulfil a constitutional obligation.